acmeattic-devel team mailing list archive

[Karthik Swaminathan Nagaraj <nkarthiks@xxxxxxxxx>]

I vote for this to be on our Discussions list at our next conference call.

On Tue, Jul 20, 2010 at 12:44 AM, Karthik Swaminathan Nagaraj <
nkarthiks@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>
>
> On Sun, Jul 18, 2010 at 11:40 PM, krishnan <
> krishnan.parthasarathi@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>>
>>   Yeah, it does seem to be the case that SpiderOak has a lot more useful
>>> features, and their guarantee about security is much more believable than
>>> Dropbox's. While we can still pick and choose the features that we would
>>> like to implement, we need to pay close attention to designing the backend
>>> architecture that allows these features to be built.
>>>
>>> In particular, I would like to see the following high level features
>>> built in AcmeAttic: sync any folder on the client's filesystem with the
>>> attic, sync from multiple devices, download (and sync) files that were
>>> synced from a different machine. Encryption should be optional for specific
>>> files or folders (it should by default be encrypted, but the user can change
>>> this if required). Sharing should also be flexible, but I don't think we
>>> need to implement the feature of creating a shared virtual folder that can
>>> have any subset of files on the attic.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Aditya
>>>
>>
>> I think, the attic should serve as a logical drive for the user over the
>> network like in the DropBox model.
>>
>> Are you in favour of differentiating the client machines from which the
>> files were uploaded to the attic? I think we must leave it to the user to
>> choose if wants to partition his backup data based on source client machine
>> by creating separate folders. We should not make any distinctions based on
>> client machine and must allow syncing of all files across all client
>> installations.
>>
>>  Suppose, the user syncs his files to the attic from a client  (say, his
>> laptop) to the attic. Now, the same user can sync the files from attic to
>> another client (in a specified path) and use it as if it is just another
>> folder on this client.
>>
>> Who specifies the path where the file in attic needs to be placed in new
>> client installations? Even if we store it as a user preference in the
>> server, we will have trouble implementing it across different operating
>> systems. eg user might not have access to a location in a linux installation
>> for which he had access in Windows. What would we do if the user changes the
>> location from another client installation and expects it to change in
>> already installed client machines as well? The simplest approach would be to
>> pull files from attic and place it in the "Attic" folder in the new client
>> installation and not bother about where in the filesystem it must be placed.
>> This also gives the user a single location to observe what he/she has backed
>> up on the attic from this client machine.
>>
>
> Exactly the problem SpiderOak tackles and I feel is a much more feature
> rich version of DropBox. I don't know how many of you have actually used
> SpiderOak, but here is how it handles this scenario.
> Each client installation is different. Each user client has its own set of
> shared folders. Indeed the attic is the place to store all the files, but
> that does not limit us from providing backup functionality separately from
> syncing. I am implying each client installation gets to choose which files
> are backed up, but files from another client are not downloaded
> automatically.
> Use Case: I backup and sync my "Open Source Project Code" folder from my
> desktop machine. (I want this folder to be revisioned and available across
> all my machines).
> I backup my "Music" from my laptop. I want this versioned alone but not
> synced to my desktop and clutter / take up space on my work desktop.
>
> Although, each client installation would be able to view and download (any
> revision of) any shared file. Thus, this provides the obvious advantages of
> the cloud including *omni presence*, but leaves the preferences to the
> client.
>
> Thus we should not limit ourselves to the "Attic" folder and try to handle
> petty issues such as name clashes, etc. Each client's files are synced with
> the cloud. A specifically marked "Sync" folder is synced between all client
> installations (it would be great to specify which installations). There may
> be any number of Sync folders, each of which is synonymous to a DropBox
> folder.
>
> I think the plan is to have a single client functionality in the initial
> releases. Upon future release plans for many clients per user, I think we
> can clarify this model.
>
>
>
>>
>>   Also, the user need not place all the files in the "Attic" folder in
>> his/her laptop (the first client). Instead he can give symlinks/shortcuts to
>> the folders and place it in the "Attic" folder of the client.
>>
>>   I think you are talking about client using symlinks for tracking
>> changes to files/folders that user wishes to backup on the attic. The
>> symlinking also provides the user a single view of all files backedup.
>>
> I think the clarification above kind of makes this more clear. Since each
> client has its own set of shared folders, these folders can be anywhere on
> the client machine. As the user points the client to the folder, each of the
> folder becomes a top-level shared folder. There does not need to be a
> symlink or copy to a single "DropBox"/"Attic" folder.
>
>
>>  Cheers,
>> Bharath
>>
>>
>>  cheers,
>> krishnan
>>
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>>
>
>
> --
> Karthik
>



-- 
Karthik